Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 64, NWS Northern Indiana

July 3, 1998Cass County, Michigan; Elkhart County, Indiana

NWS Northern Indiana issued this tornado warning at Jul 3, 1998, 9:35 PM EST for Cass County, Michigan; Elkhart County, Indiana. It was in force for 50 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jul 3, 1998, 9:35 PM EST (02:35 UTC)
Expired
Jul 3, 1998, 10:25 PM EST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Northern Indiana
Area
Whole counties

Counties Elkhart County, IN, Cass County, MI

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:35 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 3, 9:52 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50Edwardsburg, MITREES DOWNED.
Jul 3, 10:07 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 52Cassopolis, MIMEAURED GUST.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 00:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 232 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 1998-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 1998-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 69 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1779 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
69 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KFWA 040235 RRA
TORFWA
INC039-MIC027-040325-

BULLETIN- EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
935 PM EST FRI JUL 3 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN CASS COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN LOWER MICHIGAN
  ELKHART COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA

* UNTIL 1125 PM EDT (1025 PM EST)

* AT 1034 PM EDT (934 PM EST)... DOPPLER RADAR AT NORTH WEBSTER
  INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 11 MILES NORTHWEST OF ELKHART OR 3
  MILES WEST OF EDWARDSBURG MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
  EDWARDSBURG
  ADAMSVILLE
  ELKHART
  UNION
  DUNLAP
  BRISTOL
  GOSHEN

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM! ACT QUICKLY. SEEK SHELTER IN AN
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

TEH/JLA

The office that day

Everything else NWS Northern Indiana issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 3, 8:49 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXBerrien46 min
Jul 3, 10:19 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXSaint Joseph46 min
Jul 3, 8:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXLaPorte65 min
Jul 3, 9:08 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXSaint Joseph52 min
Jul 3, 9:21 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXLaPorte, Marshall, Starke49 min
Jul 3, 9:54 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXKosciusko66 min
Jul 3, 10:25 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXLaGrange, Noble65 min
Jul 3, 10:29 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXElkhart21 min
Jul 3, 10:49 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXWabash46 min
Jul 3, 10:51 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXFulton, Miami49 min
Jul 3, 11:00 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXHuntington, Whitley50 min
Jul 3, 11:27 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXCass, Miami48 min
Jul 3, 11:35 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXWabash50 min
Jul 3, 11:50 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXHuntington35 min
Jul 3, 11:57 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXMiami48 min
Jul 4, 12:25 AM ESTTornado WarningIWXGrant65 min
Jul 4, 1:21 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningIWXCass, Fulton, Miami3 hr
Jul 4, 4:34 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningIWXCass, Fulton, Miami2 hr
Jul 4, 6:35 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningIWXCass, Fulton, Miami

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 1998Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.